Grade 1 Winner Unique Bella Retired From Racing

Don Alberto Stable's three-time grade 1 winner and champion Unique Bella has been retired from racing after an ankle injury was discovered following her workout Aug. 18 at Del Mar.

Don Alberto executive director Fabricio Buffolo said a chip in her sesamoid was discovered after her five-furlong drill in 1:01 flat over the Del Mar main track Saturday morning.

The 4-year-old Tapit  filly was training toward a start in the Sept. 30 Zenyatta Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park. An eight-time graded winner, three of her last four victories were at the grade 1 level—the Dec. 26 La Brea Stakes, June 2 Beholder Mile Stakes, and the July 29 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes.

BALAN: Unique Bella Holds on Late to Win Clement L. Hirsch

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was unavailable for comment Saturday afternoon.

"Unique Bella has a very special place in our hearts and has brought so much joy to myself, my mother Liliana and the whole Don Alberto family," Don Alberto owner Carlos Heller said in a statement. "She blessed us with our first grade 1 win in the U.S. and we will be forever grateful for her and her time on the track. We are disappointed to announce her retirement, however her health and well being come first for us at Don Alberto.

"That's what we are here for, to do what's in the best interest of the horse. I want to congratulate Jerry Hollendorfer and (jockey) Mike Smith, who together guided her to a stellar campaign, culminating in becoming an Eclipse champion (for female sprinter). I think it's a remarkable achievement to have won (grade 1 races) over (seven furlongs), a mile, and a mile and sixteenth. We look forward to having her at our farm in Lexington, where she will enjoy her new career as a broodmare."

The large gray was a physical specimen as soon as she showed up to train in Southern California, and although she finished second in her debut in 2016, she went on a five-race tear from late 2016 into the fall of 2017. The run included graded scores in the Santa Ynez Stakes (G2), Las Virgenes Stakes (G2), Santa Ysabel Stakes (G3), and L.A. Woman Stakes (G3).

BALAN: Unique Bella Overcomes Trouble to Win LA Woman

She finished seventh as the favorite in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), then bounced back to win the La Brea to cap her 2017 season, which clinched her title as champion female sprinter. The only defeat of her 2018 campaign was a second-place run in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at Oaklawn Park, her only start outside of California, in which she missed the break, rushed to the front, and was passed late by Unbridled Mo.

She returned with authority to win the Beholder Mile by 2 1/4 lengths after a duel with fellow grade 1 winner Paradise Woods, then held off a late run by La Force to take the Clement L. Hirsch by a half-length in her final start.

She had a 9-2-0 record from 12 starts and earned more than $1.2 million. Bred in Pennsylvania by Brushwood Stable out of the grade 1-winning Unbridled's Song mare Unrivaled Belle, she was a $400,000 purchase by Don Alberto from Eaton Sales' consignment to the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.